Use Ongoing Performance Management To Sweeten Business Outcomes

Talent management is once again among the top concerns for
business leaders, according to PwC’s
19th
Annual Global CEO Survey. The report, which surveyed over 1,400 CEO’s from
across the globe, highlights the opportunities and challenges facing today’s
business leaders when it comes to growing, transforming, and measuring the
success of their business.

Seventy-six percent of the CEOs surveyed recognize that
business success in the 21st century will be defined by more than
just financial profit. As such, there are many things to consider. Leaders know
they must concern themselves with pushing innovation and business results
forward, but they’re also aware of the impact of their company’s
culture on attracting and retaining top talent. On top of that, leaders
understand the top and bottom line impact of employee performance management,
satisfaction, and well-being.

It begs the question: How can business leaders strike a
balance?

Creating a culture to put people first

For Sweets of Oman,
an award-winning confectionary manufacturer in the Middle East, establishing a
clear connection between employee performance, satisfaction, and business
success is at the heart of its talent strategy. It took a determined effort by
its leaders to create a culture that supports employee performance on an
ongoing basis, an approach business leaders in the region are becoming more
focused on.

PwC’s report confirms that 49
percent of CEOs in the Middle East
are focused on effective performance management, compared to 38 percent
globally. This point is further highlighted when looking at PwC’s
CHRO survey of HR leaders in the region, which shows low rankings in some
aspects of performance management, such as 360 degree feedback and mid-year
appraisals. Sweets of Oman understands the impact of talent management on
employee performance all too well.

“Our talent management strategy was inconsistent for
years. Managers
weren’t regularly discussing performance, goal progress or development opportunities
with their team,” says Sukumar Balakrishna, Sweets of Oman’s General Manager. “The
result was relatively low employee morale and mixed opinions on how to achieve
goals.”

However, since redefining its approach to talent management,
Sweets of Oman has established a culture of ongoing
performance management with the support of Halogen Software.

The recipe for sweet success

“Over the past year, we’ve designed a framework to manage
and support employee performance on an ongoing basis,” says Balakrishna. “Halogen
Performance™ enables our leaders to spend more time coaching and providing
feedback to employees about their performance, and discuss their personal and
professional growth on a regular basis.”

“By using Halogen Performance, we can link employee
goals to
our business objectives and work collaboratively with staff to clearly show how
their day-to-day work translates to company success,” says Balakrishna. “Goal
alignment has improved engagement and productivity because employees are now
actively engaged in achieving their goals and can be properly recognized and
rewarded for their efforts and outcomes they achieve.”

It’s one thing to have a system in place, like Sweets of Oman, to help capture,
monitor and support employee performance. It’s entirely something else to have
that technology
function as part of a greater system that’s responsive to the pace of
business. After all, business leaders are all too familiar with the dizzying
pace of change.

PwC’s report notes that 62 percent of CEOs are either somewhat or extremely
concerned about the speed of technological change and how it could affect the
growth of their business. However, only 16 percent of the CEOs surveyed say
they will focus on productivity through automation and technology to remain
relevant and competitive.

Learn how @sweetsofoman found sweet #performancemanagement success! #HRblogs Tweet this

Using technology at the speed of business

Technology plays a significant role in the success of talent
management in today’s workforce. A study by the Aberdeen Group found that
companies with “best in class” talent management programs are 26
percent more likely to be using performance management software. In
addition to features that help foster a culture of continuous
coaching and feedback, support employee performance and productivity by
making it easy to set and monitor goal progress, and drive meaningful
discussions, integrated talent management software can be as responsive as it
needs to be.

“We use Feedback Central™ to capture employee recognition
and achievement in the moment, but we also use it to document ongoing
observations about goal progress, employee development, and share general feedback
on performance,” says Balakrishna.

With Halogen Feedback Central™ organisations can capture instant feedback and
recognition from managers, peers, and anyone else with a few simple clicks
using a desktop, mobile phone or tablet. The application enables organisations
to accurately record employee performance feedback all year long and pull it
directly into employee performance appraisals.

People matter most

In summary, as PwC’s CEO report notes, the ability to align employees behind
business and growth goals is critical to execution. A key driver behind the
success of this alignment is ongoing performance management, and meaningful
conversations that help drive performance and business outcomes. Employees at
Sweets of Oman use Halogen to provide clarity around expectations on specific
tasks, establishing the connection to company objectives, and measuring
success.

Without a doubt, technology supports the company’s ongoing
performance management strategy, but the basis is improved communication and
relationships between managers and their team. By ensuring its people are
successful, Sweets of Oman has ensured the success of its business, as well.

Securing Talent In The Middle East

Learn about 2 of the latest studies on talent management and labour market trends across the Middle East region.

Securing Talent In The Middle East

By Elias Rassi

Elias is passionate about storytelling and finding creative ways to put HR and talent management in the middle of a conversation. From his perspective, every person and every brand has a story to tell, and Eli strives to find creative ways to tell that story and share it with the wider world. He is the former Manager for Public Relations at Saba.

Eli earned a B.A. in Canadian Studies and Mass Communications from Carleton University and a post-graduate certificate in Public Relations from Humber College.

In his spare time, Eli enjoys playing and coaching hockey, spending time outside with his family, reading magazines and re-watching the Rocky series from start to finish. Oh, and cheering on the Montreal Canadiens.